Latest / New Teacher Talk / Ep 205: The PD Early Career Teachers Actually Want: A Conversation with 3NBCTs

Transcript

Ep 205: The PD Early Career Teachers Actually Want: A Conversation with 3NBCTs · New Teacher Talk

Welcome to New Teacher Talk.
I'm Dr.
Anna,
and today I have a really special episode for you because
I'm bringing in two of my favorite colleagues and honestly
two of my favorite people.
Mary Ellen Friel and Laura Mota Newmeyer are both National
Board Certified Teachers and together the three of us run a
consulting and support practice called 3NBCTs.
You can find us at 3NBCTs.com.
Welcome to the show you two!
Thank you, Anna, so excited to be here.
Longtime fans. Thrilled to finally be on this side of the
mic.
Today, we're talking
about something we've put a lot of love into it, 3NBCTs,
our individual book studies.
And I want to start by just clearing something up right
away because I know what some of you might be picturing.
Maryellen, go ahead and say what it's not.
It is not the stack of books someone handed you during
orientation that you're supposed to read on top of lesson
planning and learning your students names and figuring out
where the copy machine was.
Yes that. Not that.
What we're talking about is a teacher choosing a book based
on what they are curious about,
what they are wrestling with right now,
what they genuinely want to go deeper on in their practice,
and then working through it on their own time at their own
pace,
guided by reflection questions that the three of us have
created specifically for that book.
That self-paced piece is so important,
especially for new teachers.
You're already juggling everything.
The last thing you need is another deadline from someone
else.
With our book studies,
you move through it when it works for you,
and the questions we've written are there to help you slow
down and really think about what you're reading in relation
to your own classroom.
Laura,
can you talk a little bit about how we approach the reflection
questions?
Because I think that's really the heart of what makes these
different.
Yes.
So when the three of us sit down to write the questions for
a book, we're not just asking, what did the author say?
We're asking questions that pushes the reader to connect
the ideas to their own teaching.
Things like,
where do you see this in your classroom right now?
What would you do differently after reading this?
What's a belief you held coming in that this chapter
challenged?
We want the teacher to be in a genuine conversation with
the book and with themselves,
because that's where the real growth happens.
It's not about proving you read it.
It's about what reading does to your thinking.
And because it's self-paced,
you can sit with a question for a day, come back to it,
think about it while you're driving to school.
There's no pressure to perform for anyone else.
It's just you and the ideas.
Mary Ellen,
how did we think about which books to build studies around?
We thought a lot about what teachers,
and especially newer teachers, are actually hungry for.
Books that speak to the real questions of the classroom,
things like building relationships with students,
understanding how kids learn,
managing your classroom in a way that feels humane and
purposeful, taking care of yourself as a professional.
We chose books that we believe in,
books that the three of us have read and talked about,
and then changed by.
And the variety is intentional too,
because every teacher is in a different place.
Someone might be drawn to a book about culturally
responsive teaching.
Someone else is desperate for something on student
engagement.
Someone else is starting to think about teacher leadership.
We want there to be something for wherever you are right
now.
Following your own interests isn't a luxury.
It's what makes professional learning stick.
When you chose it,
when it speaks to something you're genuinely curious about,
you bring that energy back into your classroom.
Your students feel it.
I also want to mention the National Board connection
because some of our new teacher talk listeners are early in
their careers,
but already thinking about certification somewhere down the
road.
Laura,
how does this kind of reading habit connect that path?
National Board Certification helps teachers become more
reflective and intentional,
and that's exactly what our book studies are designed to
develop.
The reflection questions ask you to look closely at your
own teaching, your decisions, your students, your impact.
That habit of thinking carefully and honestly about your
practice is the foundation of everything National Board
asks you to do.
Starting to build that now in your first years of teaching
is one of the most valuable investments you can make in
your long-term growth.
National Board teachers are readers and reflectors.
They are the ones who still want to understand what
happened in their classroom even on a hard day.
Our book studies help you start becoming that teacher now.
You're not just a practitioner,
you're a scholar of your own practice.
And we built these studies because we believe that is true
of every teacher at every stage.
So if you're listening and thinking, okay, I want this,
where do you go?
Head to 3nbcts.com.
You can browse the book studies we have available.
Find one that speaks to where you are right now and get
started on your own time.
There is no wrong place to start.
Just pick the one that makes you think, "Yes,
that's the question I'm sitting with," and go from there.
Maryellen.
Laura. Thank you so much for being here today.
This was such a good conversation.
Thank you, Anna. This was so fun.
New teachers, you've got this,
and we are genuinely cheering for you.
I'll drop the link to 3nbcts.com in the show notes.
Go check out the book studies and find the one that's
calling your name.
And listeners,
thank you as always for spending this time with us.
Until next time, keep learning, keep growing,
and keep showing up for your students with everything
you've got.